Why don’t moonbeam and the demonrat leadership use a quarter of the money to just blanket the state with statues and plaques to promote themselves and their egos, because that would have the same usefulness as their friggin train, and save the taxpayers the 1.5 billion of waste.
According to the Minnesota Management and Budget Office (MMB), state spending for the fiscal year 2012-2013 biennial cycle was a whopping 18% higher than the previous two year cycle.Then, the fiscal 2014-2015 budget cycle (the current budget that will expire July 1st), saw spending rise another 12% over the 2012-2013 cycle.That’s a 30% increase in state spending!
During that same period, inflation was quite tame, running anywhere from about 3% to zero during that time.Moreover, Minnesota’s population growth was flat during that time.Even more troubling is the fact that median household income fell during that time. In fact, the 2013 median household income was lower than it was in 1989.Thus, state government spending has been exponentially higher than inflation, population growth, and household income gains (which were negative) in the past two budget cycles.
There is no rational explanation for this massive spending other than an appetite on the part of government to do so.This, in a nutshell, is why the GOP is focused on returning money to the family budget and telling the government budget to step back.
Yet another amusing and pathetic narrative the DFL is spewing (as they always do) is the old chestnut about GOP tax breaks (”giveaways”) to corporate interests.And, as always, the hypocrisy is nothing short of breathtaking and there was no talk of crony capitalism when the DFL happily participated in the big taxpayer giveaway to Ziggy Wilf.Similarly, the DFL all happily authorized a similar corporate giveaway to the Pohlad family.
And the DFL participation in the giveaways isn’t just confined to professional sports.Remember the Destination Medical Center tax breaks for the Mayo Clinic, which happened when the DFL controlled everything?Recall DFL House Tax Chair Ann Lenczewski correcting complaining that Mayo wanted the legislature “to build them a city.”True enough, Madame Chair. But we recall you fell in line like a lap dog and did what Speaker Thissen and the governor told you to do.
And recall the Baxter Medical tax giveaway, which was marked by the government engaging in an unprecedented level of secrecy to prevent the taxpaying public from finding out what was going on.
The next time some Democrat gets up and complains about the GOP being for the rich corporations, the GOP ought to stand up en masse and laugh out loud.Yes, it’s only evil if the Republicans thought of it first, apparently.
To be clear, I don’t favor corporate welfare any more than I favor other forms of welfare.But a general tax cut for business isn’t welfare. Corporate welfare happens when government engages in targeted favors for politically connected corporate entities that aren’t generally available. These giveaways are based on politics and not merit. In short, they are market distorting and force competitors to subsidize politically connected rivals.
The BS is about to get mighty thick down in Saint Paul.